14 October 2025 · Shift 1

Welfare definition Alfred Marshall gave the welfare definition in his Principles of Economics (1890). He called economics a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life, concerned with material welfare. Adam Smith gave the wealth definition and Robbins the scarcity definition. Hence option (b).

Chandrayaan-3 Chandrayaan-3 soft-landed near the lunar south pole in August 2023. India became the first country to land in that region. Studying the Sun’s corona is the task of Aditya-L1. Hence option (b).

Surat Surat on the Gujarat coast was the busiest Mughal port. Pilgrims sailed from there to Mecca, which earned it the name "Bab-ul-Makkah". Lahore, Agra and Delhi are all inland cities. Hence option (b).

DAY-NRLM DAY-NRLM organises rural women into SHGs and links them to banks. It actively pushes digital transactions through BC Sakhi and digital literacy drives within those groups. Mahila E-Haat is only a marketing platform and Stand-Up India a loan scheme for enterprises. Hence option (c).

Light in glass Glass is optically denser than air, so light slows down on entering it. The frequency is fixed by the source and does not change with the medium. Since v = fλ and v falls while f stays the same, the wavelength must fall too. Both decrease — option (b).

Bowled If the ball goes on to hit the stumps, the batter is out BOWLED. This holds even if the ball first takes an edge off the bat, so long as no fielder touched it. "Edge" describes the contact, not a mode of dismissal. Hence option (a).

Shahjahanabad Shah Jahan founded a new capital, Shahjahanabad, in Delhi in 1648. He moved the court there from Agra and built the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid. The old walled city of Delhi grew from that foundation. Hence option (c).

Mitochondria Mitochondria carry out cellular respiration and produce ATP, the energy currency of the cell. That is why they are called its powerhouse. Ribosomes make proteins and the nucleus holds the genetic material. Hence option (c).

Sports Authority of India SAI was set up in 1984 under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It was created to make use of the facilities built for the 1982 Asian Games. It runs schemes such as the National Centres of Excellence and Khelo India centres. Hence option (b).

Partition of Bengal Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal in 1905, officially for administrative convenience. Indians saw it as an attempt to divide Hindus and Muslims, and it set off the Swadeshi Movement. The partition was annulled in 1911 under Lord Hardinge. Hence option (b).

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita The BNS, 2023 replaced the Indian Penal Code of 1860. It reorganises and modernises criminal law, adding offences such as organised crime and mob lynching. It has nothing to do with civil law or with the Constitution. Hence option (a).

ISRO Chairman award Dr V. Narayanan received the G.P. Birla Memorial Award in 2025. He advanced cryogenic propulsion and strengthened launch vehicle development for missions such as Chandrayaan-3 and Gaganyaan. The award honours excellence in scientific innovation and national development. Hence option (b).

Bihu Bihu is the folk dance of Assam, performed at the Bihu festival. Rongali Bihu in April marks the Assamese new year and the start of the sowing season. It is danced to the dhol, pepa and gogona. Hence option (a).

24th Tirthankara Mahavira, born Vardhamana, was the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara. Rishabhdev was the first, Neminath the 22nd and Parshvanath the 23rd. Mahavira attained nirvana at Pavapuri. Hence option (c).

Himalayan region The Himalayas are young fold mountains raised about 50 million years ago — Statement 1 correct. They rose from the collision of the Indo-Australian plate with the Eurasian plate, lifting sediments of the Tethys Sea — Statement 2 correct. The innermost and highest range, holding Everest and Kanchenjunga, is called Himadri — Statement 3 correct. All three — option (d).

Literacy rate 2011 The 2011 Census recorded an overall literacy rate of 74.04%. Male literacy stood at 82.14% and female literacy at 65.46%. Kerala was the most literate State and Bihar the least. Hence option (c).

Narmada The Narmada rises at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh. It flows west through a rift valley between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges into the Gulf of Khambhat. The Godavari, Mahanadi and Krishna all flow east into the Bay of Bengal. Hence option (a).

India's Struggle for Independence The book was written by Bipan Chandra with Mridula Mukherjee and others, published in 1988. It traces the national movement from 1857 to 1947. R.C. Majumdar wrote The History and Culture of the Indian People. Hence option (a).

89th IEC General Meeting The 89th IEC General Meeting is scheduled at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, in September 2025 — Statement 1 correct. India has been named the Global Secretariat for LVDC standardisation — Statement 2 correct. India had already hosted IEC meetings in 1960, 1997 and 2013, so this is not the first time — Statement 3 wrong. Hence 1 and 2 — option (c).

Income tax Entry 82 of the Union List covers taxes on income other than agricultural income. So income tax is levied and collected by the Union Government. Tax on agricultural income falls to the States under the State List. Hence option (b).

Munda Rebellion The Munda rebellion, called Ulgulan, broke out in the Chotanagpur plateau in 1899-1900. That region lies in present-day Jharkhand. Birsa Munda fought the loss of tribal land to outsiders and died in Ranchi jail in 1900. Hence option (a).

Greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases trap outgoing infrared radiation and warm the planet. Carbon dioxide and methane are the two chief contributors from human activity. Nitrogen, oxygen, argon and neon do not absorb infrared radiation. Hence option (b).

Eighth Plan The Eighth Plan began right after the reforms of 1991. Its central task was to carry forward liberalisation, open markets and manage the transition. Human resource development and employment generation were its other priorities. Hence option (a).

Disinvestment Privatisation means transferring ownership or management from the state to private hands. Disinvestment sells off government shares in PSUs, which is exactly that. Liberalisation removes controls and globalisation opens the economy to the world. Hence option (b).

President's Rule Article 356 deals with the failure of constitutional machinery in a State. Article 352 covers a National Emergency and Article 360 a Financial Emergency. Article 365 concerns a State’s failure to comply with Union directions. Hence option (b).